


I promise

by VeryBoredAnon



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, I posted this on Tumblr first
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-05
Updated: 2018-09-05
Packaged: 2019-07-07 06:24:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15902673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VeryBoredAnon/pseuds/VeryBoredAnon
Summary: Shorter would rather die than hurt Eiji.





	I promise

It was as though he’d been doused in hot acid. Every cell burnt and his skin felt like it was melting off. His body hurt as if every joint and muscle was being twisted and wrung. His head throbbed and pounded, the pain worsening no matter how hard he clawed his scalp. Screaming gave him no relief either.

He wished he was dead.

At the back of his mind, a maniacal voice shouted,  _The pain won’t go away until you kill **him**!_

 ** _Him_**  was only a few feet away from him. He looked like a shadowy demon, his figure blurring like smoke. His body, colored deep grey like a shadow, sported devilish red stripes. His hand was shaped like a blade. His face was pale, with big, black sunken eyes that seemed to house more demons.

He shrieked in fear, grabbing the shadow by shoulder. He raised his own knife, ready to drive into the demon’s belly just like how the voice in his head kept telling him to.

“ _ **SHORTER!**_ ” cried a voice that rattled him.

Shorter froze, his blade still in the air. Something reflected off the blade and into his eyes. Up ahead, serving as a door frame, was a golden angel.

At that moment, Shorter remembered the postcard Nadia sent him, the one he later showed Ash.

 _Ash_.

Suddenly, the shadowy demon Shorter was fighting vanished into thin air. There was only Eiji, trembling and bleeding below him.

“Shorter…?” Eiji said softly, tentatively.

Shorter shoved Eiji away, moving back as far as he can from the latter. He squeezed his head, howling in agony as he fought against the voices that ordered him to kill Eiji. The more he resisted, the stronger the pain became.

“ _Shorter!_ ” Eiji screamed, and he heard unsteady footsteps.

“Stay back!  _Please!_ ” Shorter begged, and the footsteps halted. “I can’t… I can’t protect you…”

“You’re not supposed to be protecting him,” someone–-Arthur-–growled. Shorter heard Eiji yelp before Arthur continued, “You’re supposed to tear his guts out!”

“ _Don’t listen to him!_ ” a voice literally shouted in his ear. It was the same voice that had given him this little clarity.

“Ash…” Shorter whispered, slowly facing the side, where Ash stood chained next to him. He started to sob. “It hurts… Ash, It hurts so much… I can’t… I can’t protect… protect Eiji… I'm sorry..."

“Shorter…” Ash said in a sad tone filled with sympathy, his green irises shivering as he spoke.

“ _Shorter!_ ” Arthur shouted again, impatient now. “Get over here and finish the job!”

The urge to kill surged through Shorter again and against his will, he lunged at Eiji, who was thrown to him by Arthur.

“No!” Ash cried as Shorter left his side.

“ _No!_ ” Max and Ibe shouted while struggling against their chains.

“No…” Eiji begged weakly, crossing his arms over his head defensively.

“NO!” Shorter roared, and stabbed his knife into his right thigh. He fell over, dropping to his knees, just a meter in front of Eiji.

Arthur was dumbfounded by Shorter’s actions. “What the…” His bewilderment changed to anger. “ _What the heck are you doing?!_ ”

With his head bowed down, Shorter answered, “I promised…” He reached for the knife in his leg. “I promised I would…protect him…” He grasped the handle and the blade out, letting his leg bleed.

“Shorter!” Eiji had dragged himself closer to him.

Shorter held the blade to his neck. “Don’t look,” he told Eiji, facing the boy one last time before dragging blade across his flesh.


End file.
